Moyes revealed how a pep talk with the 23-year-old striker - set to start for United in Wednesday's Capital One Cup quarter-final at Stoke - has seen the England international rediscover his best form.

The Reds' boss told Welbeck to follow the example of club and country team-mate Wayne Rooney.

"I've got to say, we had a word with him about a month ago and we said that he needs to be the last off the training field," said Moyes.

"Wayne's out there practising his finishing each day, whether it's taking free-kicks, shooting from tight angles or bending them in. Whatever it may be, Wayne's practising. I said, 'Danny, you need to be out there every day finishing, even if it's 15 minutes at the end.'"

Asked if he was surprised he needed to remind Welbeck of the need to hone his game even more, Moyes said: "A little bit, yes.

"I think the young boys here are educated to keep improving and practice, but sometimes you can, without knowing, slip away from that. So we just said, 'Every day, give yourself an extra 10 to 15 minutes at the end of every session and practice all different types of finishing - inside the box, outside the box, heading - and let's see if we can get more goals from you.'

"Everybody told me that he only scored one goal last season but I think he's got five this season, so that's a positive start for him. He's been out with injury but he needs to score more goals."

Welbeck heeded the advice from Moyes and the coaching staff and took his goal tally to five this term with his brace at Villa Park, having already surpassed last season's paltry total of two.

"I think Danny has got an awful lot of attributes and he just has to say, 'I'm going to have to take this onto another level,'" said the Scot. "We're trying to get him to do that. I think he needs to say, 'This is what I do, and this is what I have to do regularly'.

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"We challenged them a bit on Sunday, told them to stand up a bit and I thought Danny rose to the challenge and took the bait.

"I think he said, 'Okay, I'll show you!' and that was good for him and good for the team.

"He plays on the left for England as a wide striker, but if you asked Danny he would see himself as a striker. What gets you a game as a striker? Goals.

"Whether you score them inside the box or outside the box, from distance or from tap-ins, if you want to be a striker in the Premier League, especially at a club like Manchester United, you have to be a goal-scorer.

"There will be lots of strikers who offer other parts and Danny does offer other parts, but without Robin he stood up and took it on. He scored two and in truth probably should have had a hat-trick on the day."

Moyes, who succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer, is looking to go all the way in the Capital One Cup and land his first trophy as a manager.

"It's important we try to stay in all of the competitions for as long as we can," he said. "We don't have that many to play for. A small amount of trophies are dished out every season and we have to make sure we're in and around them."

Moyes picked a young side at Villa, and said he would continue to go down that route for the long-term good and progression of the team.

"I have to be looking at the long-term future of Manchester United," he explained. "Part of the remit is to introduce young players and look to the Academy, to see what we can bring through.

"The club has always tried to promote from within, but a lot of the lads who played at Villa are also quite experienced. Adnan Januzaj is the one with least experience, but we need the experienced players in a lot of the games, as you've seen."